tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907015820258768087.post7561256522887178196..comments2023-11-02T03:51:08.807-07:00Comments on Day Labor, the Official blog of Crimefactory Magazine: Rawson rants—Art vs. CommerceAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06827652636843928373noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907015820258768087.post-3030560286251122592010-11-08T13:31:56.473-08:002010-11-08T13:31:56.473-08:00Not to lay some Zen, gum-flapping nothingness on y...Not to lay some Zen, gum-flapping nothingness on you, but my opinion is that every artist has to find their comfortable balance between commercial interest and purity of expression.<br /><br />Sad truth is, people can't just write what they want and expect everyone to think it's the next DaVinci Code or Twilight series. The common market is just that - common - and a lot of the smarter, edgier, more complex work just isn't going to sell like sliced bread. <br /><br />Compromise isn't a universal evil, though. Editing can be good for a story. I think authors need to accept that their work can be boring, verbose or too offensive. But ultimately, the author's the one that makes the decision as to what they want to tell - what balance between accessibility and artistry they want. If they want to calculatingly crank out something that hits all the bestseller qualities for the purpose of making cash and having fun doing it, so be it. If they want to compose a layered, oblique opus that only five people understand, go for greatness. Everybody has different aims, and their personal comfort will decide what they're happy with.<br /><br />I reckon that's just a long-winded way of saying "Live and Let Live". And by that same token, I've never found the worth of a piece of writing to be related to its sales figures or even its fame. Unless, in some instances, inversely related. <br /><br />Maybe I've spent too long in marketing. I see the commercial success of most media as the result of certain key market-friendly elements run head-on into a ton of luck. The only relation to writing is that, on some level, the author has to think about the appetites of the audience if they want to get them to take a big bite.M. C. Funkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00088827164403855506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907015820258768087.post-80697792510989861242010-11-08T11:19:57.559-08:002010-11-08T11:19:57.559-08:00No disagreement here. (Well, very little. Ford did...No disagreement here. (Well, very little. Ford didn't take the bailout money; GM did.) Few things will put me off a conversation with a writer than bithcing about sales. I understand having to make a living, and I'm in your boat, Keith, in that I have a day job that pays my bills. As for the sales bitching, no one forced them to be writers. You don't like the financials? Quit. <br /><br />What's that? You can't quit, because you could no more stop writing than you could stop breathing? Then stop bitching. No one makes a living breathing. (Except maybe Paris Hilton.) You're compelled to write, get a day job to make ends meet. <br /><br />No one--no one--is entitled to earn a living doing as they please. That some can is great, but they're the lucky few.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907015820258768087.post-18850175024271787932010-11-08T04:08:21.606-08:002010-11-08T04:08:21.606-08:00Yeah, hopefully this is not too self-serving of me...Yeah, hopefully this is not too self-serving of me to say, but I'm with you on every word.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907015820258768087.post-54285790577322534992010-11-08T00:10:21.057-08:002010-11-08T00:10:21.057-08:00Brilliant post, Keith.
I wrote something on my ...Brilliant post, Keith. <br /><br />I wrote something on my blog some time ago about how sometimes writing becoming contaminated by other considerations. I can't remember exactly what I posted - so it can't have been that earth-shattering - but I reckon the consideration of book sales can be a similar contamination. Once an author takes his eye off the need to express the story/book in its purest form - the way he hear's and sees it in his head, diluting the art model, if you like, I'm not sure there's any way back. Tis a slippery slope, that one. <br /><br />To me, I write, because I have to. I write because to not do so would leave me a dribbling wreck. <br /><br />During my counselling training, one of the most valuable things I learned was to detach myself from the outcome of a situation. Put out your purest self, give your best, in writing terms, write the best damn story you can, then let it go. What comes of it, comes of it: publication, money, fuck all. Doesn't matter. But whatever it is, let it go. And move onto the next one. <br /><br />As for the business of publishing? Tis no consideration of mine. And that's the way I hope it'll stay.Ian Ayrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02938603752420100222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907015820258768087.post-10013191581875775762010-11-07T14:04:41.468-08:002010-11-07T14:04:41.468-08:00People who make their living from writing are real...People who make their living from writing are really in a tough spot. If their books aren't selling they have to write some that do. As an amateur I can write whatever the hell I feel like, and the only downside is a hit to my ego.<br /><br />That's one reason I don't see myself ever giving up the day job. I'm not sure I'd want to even if I could.Graham Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01775285782385634486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907015820258768087.post-78210228053227006052010-11-07T13:30:29.486-08:002010-11-07T13:30:29.486-08:00Spot on Keith. I think being around the block a bi...Spot on Keith. I think being around the block a bit helps your perspective. As a late starter (coming up to 2 years, mate!), I'm happy that I can hold down a job let alone get paid for writing (35 dollars and 2 comp compies so far!)This side of the pond I'd mention Pulp Press & Byker Books as far as indies go!Paul D Brazillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12881642426845398389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907015820258768087.post-6043426442840513392010-11-07T11:35:13.077-08:002010-11-07T11:35:13.077-08:00this is a great post. i think that it's been ...this is a great post. i think that it's been an argument that's been there since artistic creations were first traded. as times become tougher economically, purse strings get tighter and the world seems to become either more conservative or more radical. these times seem to be on the more conservative side. <br />nice to see you pointing out some of the positives, though. there are publishers who seem to be trying interesting things by setting up really tight branding. there are also the opportunities taken by writers in the world of electonic books and downloads that allow a more radical (if not always a higher quality) product. and there's still a heap of great stuff coming out - my pile of recents has Rut, Pike, Savages and 8 Pounds in there. i know, Keith, that you have a much more extensive list.<br />what i'd also like to flag is the importance of the independent presses (small presses) at such times. Crimefactory is a great example. you will keep it going for as long as your energy, time and enthusiasm last (which may well be for a good long while yet, i reckon). it's during these times where you'll be the outlet of the creative juices, prepared to take on talented writers no matter what, because that's what you're all about.<br />i live in your dream, too, the one where the call comes, says i might be able to teach a little less and write a little more. i also know i've been writing for a long time and that teaching has kept everything else ticking over. i'd love it if we made it. i'd be delighted if it were just one. and if it's neither, so long as there are good folk making work available for love (basically) that'll do for me.<br />and that's about the longest, most incoherent comment i've ever left on a blog post - time to crawl back under my stone before the stone's thrown my way.Nigel Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05529578665251906089noreply@blogger.com